Sorry for more rookie scope questions

mfer said:

I now see the subjectiveness of scopes. All were clear and nice to my eyes. Some were slightly better to me.

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One trick for testing scopes in the "ideal for selling scopes" conditions which are the lighting and range available at box stores like cabela's:

Typically across the store from the optics counter is the fishing section. Focus the eyebox of each scope, then look at the tips of the fishing rods in the racks. For scopes with good resolution and clarity, the tips and lines will also be easily recognized by your eye, and focusing on one rod won't warp the rest of the rods. So side by side, almost unilaterally, you'll see the Nikon's struggle to resolve the rods, whereas the Leupold and Bushnells don't.

Brightness is great, but resolution is what lets you place shots where you want on target.

mfer said:

The VX-2 they had at Cabela's was the 2-7x33mm. The amount of light/brightness was notable dimmer than even the VX-1 (40mm). I didn't think the VX-2 was better per say as I was comparing to the VX-1 40mm. It was fine, just more muted.

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Part of what you're seeing here is the difference in exit pupil. Even with the same quality of glass, same magnification, a smaller objective scope will look more "muted" because it has a smaller exit pupil diameter. The larger the exit pupil diameter, the more light your eye is able to capture.

Exit pupil diameter = objective diameter divided by magnification setting. The human eye is capable of constricting down to about 2mm and dilating up to about 7-8mm. A 33mm objective at 7 power has an exit pupil of 4.7mm, about the mid range of your pupil's range. A 40mm set at 7x has an exit pupil of 5.7mm, meaning you get 47% more light passing to your eye. Think about the difference in your living room, if you have a main fixture with 3 bulbs - think about having 2 bulbs in instead of one. That's about the same difference.

Brightness, however, is only part of the equation - I'd happily sacrifice brightness for better contrast and resolution (clarity). Nikon's do pretty well for brightness, not so great for resolution. Bushnell do well for both (for the money), and Leupold do well for resolution, but not quite as well for brightness, in general.

Where are you located?